2010م - 1444هـ
Introduction

to English Linguistics

A Companion to the Seminar

(Revised and Abridged)

Eötvös Loránd University

Budapest



Preface

The seminar called Introduction to English Linguistics is offered in English to

first year students in weekly sessions. Since for most students this seminar is

the only place where the topics of the course are discussed in English, teachers

of this seminar often have to explain the material to their students before (or

instead of!) doing exercises or discussing problems, and so a considerable part

of precious seminar time is wasted on lecturing.

The present book offers a solution. It contains ten units: each discusses

an important topic in English and each is followed by exercises. Thus it

provides ample seminar material for about 12 weeks. Some of the units may be

curtailed or even omitted at the teacher’s discretion.

The units should be assigned for home study before the actual seminar

session at which they will be discussed. Thus the students will have an

opportunity to get acquainted with the main ideas and the special English

vocabulary of each topic before coming to the seminar, and this frees their

tutors from having to lecture during the seminar, enabling them to concentrate

on discussion and practical problem-solving activities.

I hope both students and teachers of the Introduction to English

Linguistics seminar will find this book a useful companion to the course. If for

any topic further reading is required, I recommend the relevant chapters of

Fromkin, V. & R. Rodman (1998) An Introduction to Language. 6th ed. (Fort

Worth, etc.: Harcourt Brace College Publishers), or Radford, A., M. Atkinson,

D. Britain, H. Clahsen & A. Spencer (1999) Linguistics, An Introduction.